The shifty side to shift work

Here’s a word I’ve only recently discovered: diurnality. Humans are essentially diurnal creatures, which means our bodies are built to be awake during the day and asleep at night. That’s why shift workers, who often force their bodies to do the opposite, end up struggling physically and mentally.

Back in 2007, for example, the World Health Organisation (WHO) outlined the carcinogenic consequences of the graveyard shift. Carcinogens are elements known to cause cancer. In the case of shift workers, studies have shown the breast is the primary area of affliction for women while for men it’s the prostate.

After the release of the WHO findings, the carcinogenic link was deemed to be so strong that in Denmark the government started paying compensation to female night-shift workers who developed breast cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a subsidiary of WHO, even deemed the effect of shift work to be similar to the effect of industrial chemicals.

These results demonstrate the stress placed on the body when people work unnatural hours. But even more evidence exists to support this position.

An analysis by the University of Queensland on over a dozen studies found shift workers are more likely to snack on bad foods and spend less time exercising, the combination of which damages their health. It’s not surprising, then, that extensive research published in the British Medical Journal last year concluded shift workers were 41 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke.

And, according to Sleep Disorders Australia, shift workers are subsequently less able to perform at their best. Ordinarily, this might not be such a big issue except many are employed as nurses, police officers, flight attendants and truck drivers – the very people we need to be the most alert. This poses a heighted risk inevitably passed on to the public.

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Some of the most famous disasters have occurred during the dreaded overnight shift. Dr David Swenson, an American university professor, wrote an academic journal article back in 1999 linking the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Chernobyl nuclear blast, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, and the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown to “shift fatigue”.

Granted, there would have been other factors that contributed to those catastrophes, but the impact of shift work still can’t be discounted.

Closer to home, the Office of Road Safety (ORS) in Western Australia has determined shift workers are six times more likely to be involved in a fatigue-related vehicle accident.

In particular, the most dangerous time to drive is immediately after the night shift. The OSR recommends a 30-minute nap before hitting the road, and the following for a better sleep once you get home:

Establish a regular time for going to bed.

Make sure your bedroom is dark.

Silence your room by wearing earplugs and switching off your phone.

Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the hours before bedtime.

There are 1.4 million Australians – or approximately 16 per cent of the working population – engaged in shift work (most of them on full-time hours). This is undeniably damaging their health. I used to be one of them. As the night auditor of a city hotel, I’d start work at 11pm and be done by 7am but the hit to my energy levels, social life, mood, cognitive capacity and diet were intolerable. Until I quit.

So what’s causing this drive towards shift work? One reason is consumer demand – people increasingly want services outside of standard business hours. Another is globalisation. With clients all around the planet, many companies need workers to service customers 24 hours a day. And the third reason is productivity, with employers wanting to make the most of their facilities.